Google overtaking Apple would have driven Steve Jobs crazy: He was obsessed with Apple’s market value

“While watching Google’s market value surpass Apple’s in after-market trading last night—ending Apple’s on-and-off reign as the world’s most valuable company—I couldn’t help thinking about Steve Jobs, and how much this moment would have pained him,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt writes for Fortune.

“Market capitalization—calculated by multiplying share price by the number of shares outstanding—is just one measure of a company’s value, and one that often says more about short-term sentiment on Wall Street than a company’s long-term prospects,” P.E.D. reports. “But Steve Jobs was reportedly obsessed with his market cap.”

P.E.D. reports, “The story comes from Bruce Upbin, who runs Forbes Media’s 140-person technology team.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Again, if this is what it takes to kick some asses into gear at Apple and sharpen the focus, including shipping products with the finished quality that we expect and demand, this little demotion is very welcome indeed.

That said, we all know which company is really the most valuable on earth and it certainly isn’t Alphabet.

Apple vs. Alphabet revenue (2008-2015) (in billion U.S. dollars)
Revenue comparison of Apple and Google from 2008 to 2015 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Apple vs. Alphabet net income (2008-2015)

Apple vs. Alphabet net income (2008-2015)
Source: Wolfram Alpha

SEE ALSO:
Go figure: Google’s ‘more valuable’ than Apple, but Apple’s iPhone takes 94% of smartphone industry’s profits – February 2, 2016
Apple’s iPhone can soon reap 100 percent of world’s smartphone profits – November 17, 2015
Apple’s iPhone owns 94% of smartphone industry’s profits – November 16, 2015
Open letter to Tim Cook: Apple needs to do better – January 5, 2015

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